To see or Not to see
by Stopruiningtheplot
Summary: What happened to Ignis in Altissia? Does he remember, or is he pretending to forget?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! This is my idea of what may happen in Episode Ignis, based off what I've heard rumor of on the internet, what I personally think would fit in the story, and the teaser trailer. There is more to come, don't worry!**

Part 1

The plan had been to get to Noctis once the refugees had been taken care of. Ignis had stuck to that plan, hurrying toward the altar as the imperial air ships began their retreat. He expected to find Gladio or Prompto waiting for him, but instead, he was greeted by a battalion of Imperial foot soldiers. Every logical thought in his mind screamed for him to retreat before they could open fire on him, but they stood between him and his charge. Ignis dove behind a crumbling wall for cover. He had no idea if Noct had survived the rite, only that he had succeeded in getting Leviathan's blessing, as the Hydrean could no longer be heard and the towering walls of waves had receded, replaced now with heavy rainfall from the over-saturated sky. He pushed his glasses up his nose. They would soon become more of a hindrance than a help with all the rain that speckled them. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it. In the meantime, he needed a plan, and fast. Without any allies to be seen, he could either wait for them to show and lie in wait, or try to take out as many Nifs as possible in one hit and hope he could take out the rest on his own.

A loud hissing noise drew his attention to his left, where he saw the Chancellor's ship opening, more Nif soldiers piling out. Why there were no MT's made Ignis curious. MT's were clearly the more deadly of the two types of soldiers, which made Ignis believe that perhaps murder may not be on the agenda.

Perhaps this was a retrieval.

Ignis didn't know what state Noct or Lunafreya were in, but he knew that being in the malicious hands of the empire, and more specifically the Chancellor, would not be beneficial to their well-beings. Waiting for his comrades no longer seemed to be an option. Pulling a firaga spell, his last one, from his Crownsguard uniform, he fiddled with it in his fingers a few times before taking a breath and launching it at the Nifs. The spell erupted and engulfed the first two rows of soldiers in flames, causing the others to scatter from their formation. Ignis stepped out from behind the wall and started flinging daggers at as many soldiers as he could while he still had the element of surprise. It didn't take long after that for the soldiers to narrow in on their target, and Ignis was forced to rush them with his lance to get out of range. The pouring rain had put out the fires from the spell already, and even moving as quickly as he did, Ignis couldn't stop the Nifs from surrounding him. The ones deployed from the Chancellor's ship had cut off his escape. He swung his lance around, trying to create space between him and his foes, but Ignis knew that one of them would pull the trigger soon enough. A shot to the leg and they'd have their opening. What Ignis wouldn't give to have Gladio's shield at the moment. Or just Gladio himself. The thought came to him that maybe Noct wasn't even at the altar at all, that he'd been wrong about what he'd seen.

That if he died here, it would be for nothing.

He shook the through from his head and swung his lance around again, but the Nifs didn't seem like they planned on shooting him. They just stood there, guns aimed at him on all sides, but didn't pull the trigger. How long would this strange stale-mate last? Did they expect him to surrender? Ignis frowned at the thought. How little they thought of his loyalty.

With that in mind, Ignis switched to his daggers and attacked the closest soldier to him, figuring his best way out of this trap was to make a hole in the infantry.

That was when they retaliated.

Rather than a bullet, he felt the butt of a gun smash the back of his head, which would have been enough to send him reeling, but something knocked out his knees from behind, and the combination sent him flying onto the ground, face smashed into the wet cobblestone. It was then almost as if the soldiers dogpiled him. He had troops pinning his arms to the ground, another kneeling on the back of his legs. He tried to summon a dagger in his left hand but as soon as he did so his arm got twisted painfully behind his back. His vision blurred from both his foggy, skewed glasses and his recent concussion, but when the soldier in front of him stood up, he could see who stood before him particularly clearly; the Chancellor himself.

Ignis lifted his head from the ground to try his best to meet the Chancellor's eye but a soldier smashed his face back onto the ground. The Chancellor smirked and bent slightly so his face was in Ignis's field of vision.

"You were right not to trust me."


	2. Chapter 2

Ignis's mind flew through a million things at once. What had he done to Noctis? To Luna? To Gladio or Prompto? Have they all been killed, or captured? Why did he ever bother helping them? What's his end game? What does the empire want? What does the Chancellor want with him?

All these thoughts flashed onto his face in a pained snarl, though the fear he began to feel made his eyes open wide. He was completely helpless, something he'd never truly been in his life. There was always a plan, always a way out. How could he have been so short-sighted?

His wrist got bent back sharply, causing him to flinch.

The Chancellor knelt down, looking as bemused as ever.

"What a disastrous day, to think, all of this could have been avoided."

"I don't see how," Ignis ground out.

The Chancellor just chuckled. "Ah, that my dear Mr. Scientia is your fatal flaw. Your blind loyalty to your dear Noctis. Tell me, do you even know where he is at the moment?"

Ignis snarled rather than admit that no, he didn't. Although the question seemed more rhetorical, as though Ardyn knew exactly where Noct was.

"It seems you've lost track of him. You're slacking. You best pick it up, for you never know who might be waiting for you to fail to step in and harm your dear Prince."

As he said this, Ardyn stood up and backed away, revealing to Ignis two Nif soldiers dragging a limp body along the ground then dropping it in front of Ignis. Even with his faced being pressed into the ground, Ignis could tell immediately who it was. He struggled against the soldiers holding him down, not minding the fresh pain that came with it. More guns were being pointed into his face.

"Highness! Noct!" he called out, but he got no response. Noct's lips were blue and his skin looked deathly pale. Every thought in his mind cleared except one: get Noctis out of here, no matter what. Realizing his other arm was still relatively free, he summoned a dagger to his hand and lashed out at the Nif soldier sitting on his legs. It was enough to get the soldier to move off him enough where he could turn onto his side and curl his leg up to kick the soldier completely off him. Ignis got onto his knees, careful to not worsen his pinned arm and had his dagger poised to come down upon the soldier doing the pinning when stars burst into his vision and he heard shattering glass.

As his vision cleared he felt something wet dripping into his is right eye and he blinked it away to find his glasses lying shattered on the ground. He found now that both of his arms were pinned behind his back now, and a soldier stood in front of him, the butt of his gun still hovering by Ignis's face.

"Now now, no need for that. I'm here to talk."

"Then talk!" Ignis spat, aware now of a possible cut on his lip and the stuffy sound of his voice could mean a broken nose as well.

"Hm, so rash, I thought you'd be a bit more level-headed." Ardyn tipped his head to the side thoughtfully. "Then again, perhaps not. You are still quite young. Chosen by the King to be the future adviser of his son, the two of you have known each other for quite some time. I would imagine that would breed a more natural devotion, a brotherly bond, no?"

"What do you want?"

"I don't want anything! I'm simply here to make you an offer." Ardyn leans over and picks up Ignis's glasses, turning them over in his hand as he regarded them.

"I wonder how desperately you need these, after all, you seem to be able to see me just fine without them. Perhaps they're for a minor correction, am I correct?" Ignis remained silent. "I'll take that as a yes. How telling," Ardyn said, his eyes glinting. Ignis swallowed. Ardyn's eyes bore into him, as if he was searching every inch of Ignis's being.

"Specs, that's what they call you, isn't it? I wonder what would happen if we took those away," Ardyn said, crumpling the glasses in his fist. "Like I said, I'm here to make you an offer. You see, my good friend the Emperor would like nothing more than for me to deliver the Prince to him along with the ring, but I'm nothing if not a compassionate man, and I'm willing to make a trade."

"What do you want?" Ignis repeated, his teeth grinding. If Ardyn asked a life for a life, he'd gladly give his.

"A trade. I'll leave your dear Prince alone if you give me something equally dear to you."

Ignis looked at the Chancellor in confusion. Equally dear? Nothing mattered to him more than Noctis, he'd put his life before Noct's any day, including right now. Ardyn must know this. As much as Ignis didn't trust the Chancellor, he always kept his word when helping them in the past. His motives were still unclear, but if he promised to give up his life to keep Noct safe, Ignis believed Ardyn would honor such an agreement.

Ignis took a long look at Noct's unconscious form before closing his eyes and exhaling.

"I'll make the trade."

Ardyn hummed in amusement. "I thought you might. Hold him steady."

Ignis felt a hand grab a fist full of his hair and yank his head back. His breathing became shallows and his heart felt like it was burning in his chest. "I have your word that no harm will come to the Prince?"

"But of course! His safety in exchange for your dignity."

That made Ignis's heart stop. "My what?"

Ardyn walked toward him, shaking his head, Ignis's head held taught. "Oh, dear, did you think I was going to kill you? Now, I said something you hold as dearly as your Prince, I don't want something so easily parted with on your behalf. I want something that means much, much more to you."

Ardyn reached into Ignis's jacket and pulled out his last Firaga spell, then fiddled with it in his hand. Ignis didn't take his widened eyes off it.

"Ignis means Fire, doesn't it? How poetic. Last chance, do you want to change your mind?"

"Never," Ignis said, though his voice trembled.

"So be it."

The spell ignited in Ardyn's hand and didn't burn him. How? The Chancellor walked slowly toward Ignis, dragging out the horrific moments of suspense for the adviser. What did he mean by dignity? What was he going to take…

Then Ardyn held his hand up to Ignis's face, and he knew. Ignis thrashed as much as he could to try and break free from the hands holding him in place. Ardyn chuckled again as he place his hand onto Ignis's face.

The next few moments all blurred together. Ignis doesn't really remember much else except the pain and the bright flash of light that wouldn't go away. He blacked in and out a few times, completely disoriented because when he did come to, he could see nothing. At one point, he was shocked to have hot breath tickling his ringing ears.

"You call your self a strategist, and yet you think with your heart. When you wake, you'll understand your mistake. Until next time," Ardyn whispered, and Ignis heard the splash of his boots walking away as he slipped into a much longer period of nothingness.


End file.
